Today at Mass, the offertory hymn got me teary eyed – so much so that I couldn’t sing any more. I tried to remember the hymn, but not surprisingly, I can’t. It was about offering what we have to Christ. The last verse was something to the effect of giving God our final breath after using it to sing His praise during our life. Of course I thought of my mother. I thought of her singing in all the different choirs during her life. And I thought about when she took her last breath. I really wanted to push that thought out of my head immediately. Instead, I remembered what my counselor suggested. I just sat with the image and feelings for a while. Then, they turned to how my mom must be singing praise right now in Heaven. That also brought tears to my eyes. Not in sadness, but in more of a how awesome that must be feeling. I was grateful to be able to switch into a more hopeful mindset. This afternoon, I listened to a Hallow podcast about prayer through music. There was a reminder that there is music and singing in Heaven right now. The saints and angels are singing. And when we sing praise, we are joining in their song. St. Augustine said that singing is like praying twice. They also talked about the transcendent nature of singing. It’s different from just listening to music. There is power when you sing the truth of God. Everything they said in the podcast was exactly what I have experienced myself and it was beautiful validation. I also knew that all those years that my mother participated in her own prayer through music is what helped form her into the saintly person that I knew her to be.

I Found God today in the power of praying through music.